Hidden London is sad but not distraught to witness the demise of Ken Livingstone as mayor of London. This website believes that Ken did much more good than harm during his eight years in office, and hopes that Boris Johnson amasses (or has thrust upon him by Tory central office) a strong team of advisors to ensure that his gaffes when speaking off the cuff are not echoed in his style of governance.

Although Ken was in part the hapless victim of the national moodswing, this website believes that he was the principal architect of his own downfall, in too often breaking pledges that he made to the London electorate.

Hidden London supports the congestion charge and did not, per se, have a problem with the increase in the daily rate or the enlargement of the zone. But if you promise not to do something (at least for several years) and then you go ahead and do it regardless, you’re slapping the faces of the people who voted for you.

Had this been a one-off, it might have been forgivable. But it was merely an example of a series of volte faces that had begun to make Ken seem contemptuous of the democratic process.

For many, the most emotive issue, albeit not the most significant in the grand scheme of things, was Ken’s climbdown on the preservation of Routemaster buses. There are perhaps legitimate reasons (especially regarding access for the disabled) why Routemasters could not have continued to operate as they did in the last century. But Ken’s abandonment of his pledge to keep them (except for a few ‘heritage’ services) looked more like cost-cutting than principled decision making. And to replace Routemasters with bendy buses was for many the last straw – and a faux pas that Boris gleefully seized upon in his campaign.